In our home, we LOVE pizza night. I may sound like a teenager as I say this, but a good pizza is probably one of my favorite meals. To me, there’s nothing better then a slice of hot, cheesy pizza. As much as I love it, I’m actually super picky when it comes to pizza. Chain delivery restaurants just don’t hit the spot for me. In my area, the mom and pop shops really don’t make it on my list either.

I’m always looking for a great place to find a slice. Reality is that unless I make the pizza myself, I normally don’t enjoy it. However, there are two joints out there where I can really enjoy a slice of heavenly pizza:

Z Pizza: This organic pizza shop makes the best pizza hands down in the northern Virginia area. The crust is thin and crispy and they have the perfect cheese to sauce ratio. I like to pile up the toppings but Jason is a pizza purist and likes to keep it simple. It’s just cheese and pepperoni for him with on a rare occassion adding sausage or ham. Whatever your preference, Z Pizza’s menu is full of gourmet pizza options with all types of different toppings. If you’re a fan of wheat bread, they can even customize your pizza to be more heart friendly. Not a fan of pizza? They have tons of amazing sandwhiches and salads as well. I’ve been so disappointed that the poor economy caused many of these locations to close.

Mellow Mushroom: In our recent travels to Ashesville, NC we discovered this jewel of a place. First, we fell in love with the atmosphere. Everyone was super chill and laid back. The hippy-eque staff gave a vibe as if we were in a scene from Dazed and Confused. The Mellow Mushroom is a chain restaurant, but each location is franchised out to individual open minded interpreters. As the menu may be the same in all 100 stores, each restaurant theme differs. While in Ashesville, we set out to find good pizza and Mellow Mushroom fit the bill. The crust was a traditional pan style, but with a crunchy coating of fresh parm cheese baked into the rim. This made the pizza outstanding. If you find yourself searching for pizza in a southern state, put Mellow Mushroom on your list.

Slice Pizzeria: As we have mentioned in our Duck, NC OBX review, Slice Pizzeria is one of, if not the best pizza joints in OBX. They have a fabulous slice bar with a huge selection or ‘gourmet’ slices. Pick your favorite and mix it up to create your own tasting. We recommend you try their baked ziti slice. If you are a lover of pasta and pizza, then you’ll savor every bite of this thick, delicious pizza. It’s got gooey mozzarella cheese, sweet ricotta, homemade tomato sauce, imported parmesan cheese and fresh parsley. I wonder if they deliver to the Washington, DC metro area because I am craving a slice right now! Seriously, check them out and let them know that CookingShorts.com sent you.

Since we don’t have a Z Pizza near us and we can’t drive all the way to Asheville, NC every time we want a pizza pie, we’ve had to come up with come recipes of our own. Try our Simple and Sweet Pepperoni Pizza or our Heirloom Caprese Pizza recipes. Pizza is really fun and easy to make. I bet once you try it yourself, you’ll never call out for delivery again.

Do you have a favorite pizza place? Let us know in the comments below!

Thanks for your comments. I totally agree about Pomodoro’s in our area. They used to have awesome pizza! Recently, it has been gross. I sented an email to them from their website about my disappointment with the recently change but never heard back. I guess they don’t care.

If you ever come to Cabot, Arkansas we need to eat at Larry’s Pizza. Most nights they have a buffet and they will make what ever pizza you want. If you decide that you don’t like the Taco pizza, then maybe you would like for them to make the Chicken, Bacon, Ranch instead (my favorite), or they could make you the Marguerita <~~spelling might not be correct. It has fresh veggies and garlic sauce. They also make more "normal" pizzas if you don't wish to be so bold. The possibilities are practically endless, they also taste really good.

I, too, LOVE pizza! There is a good place right up the street from where we live called Vinny’s. I think it is also a franchise and there are a few locations in Nova. The pizza is oooh so yummy but tres $$$. I usually just get Papa Johns.